Over the last several weeks I have been reading on almost a daily basis people expressing their displeasure at the changes, software, customer support, card-fixing and Beanie sightings on UltimateBet. I will start out by saying I am not a spokesman or ‘ambassador’ to UltimateBet. What I am and have been is a person who has worked in the Operations and Customer Service departments of a few companies. I have tried other sites like Paradise, Full Tilt and Party Poker as well and what follows is only MY opinion and ‘this commentary does not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions of Pocket Fives’ website, staff or other bloggers.’ <READMORE>

Okay let’s address what has happened over the last few weeks on UB. They have reorganized their SNGs, they have lowered the guarantee on several of their tournaments, they have taken away the option to view hand histories as an observer and there have been complaints about their Customer Service Department lacking in various ways. There have been others but for now I would like to address these issues.

UB recently changed their SNG software for what I believe was a single purpose, the introduction of the Multi-table SNGs. The reason they did this was mainly due to the influx of Email (mine included) they received to introduce them. I am not a programmer. I do have some knowledge of coding and to me logic states that a MTT-SNG would require code much like their normal MTTs. From the looks of things this code is much different than how their original SNGs were coded, thus in an effort to make it work, they based their MTT-SNG code off the MTT code they already had in place, with lobbies and registration. They also attempted to streamline the process for people who wanted to play in a particular type of SNG (ie $20 6 seat, turbo). Unfortunately, this resulted in a much more difficult time to navigate around the SNGs, longer times getting into a SNG and of course the software issues/bugs.

While I personally cannot say I like the new style of SNGs, I have to applaud UB for trying to work with their Customer Base and introduce something that has been wanted for a long time. I played in a MTT-SNG the other night and actually had a good time. I was also happy with the fact that one of my first Emails to UB stated they should bring back the “Waiting” tab that shows how many people are waiting at a particular table for better navigation was implemented. They have recently added this in their latest patch. Is there room for improvement? Of course! An example would be a simple tab that reads MTT-SNG. In this there would be the new MTT-SNG with their tournament style code. Another tab would read SNG with the old style still intact.

UltimateBet is a business that is trying to work with its player base to improve their site. They added a feature which was requested by players that was not received well by said players, so they put up a poll, a lengthy one to see once again how they can improve their site. They will not be able to please everyone but it is my hope they will listen to the majority and go from there and continue working to improve their site.

Concerning UB lowering their guarantee on several larger tournaments, all I can say is can you blame them? I do not know of any business who would keep throwing money in at a losing proposition. I would also state that the 120k was 120k for several months before they reduced it to 100k, so it was not like they tried it one week and changed it back. Same with the 25k, 17k and 10k tournaments, they tried guaranteeing more but in the end there were some huge overlays. I ask again, what business would continue throwing money into a losing proposition? Yes there are other sites (Bogdog) who have been throwing money around like it was water but in this case, it is a start-up company who is trying to BUILD a player base, whereas UB already has one. One more thing, UB had several tournaments they never touched, like the WSoP where I would constantly see 50-90 players and their Aruba buy-in tournament where 38 would come to play. Even some of their New Orleans and Paris tournaments had overlays but they never touched them.

In the end, what UB faces here is a marketing issue. There is so much competition out there in the online poker community that they have to start coming up with new things to attract more players and retain the current ones they have. Let’s face it, money talks and that is what many of the other online poker sites are doing, throwing out a ton of money. If I were in charge of the marketing department at UB, I would focus on what we already have, the best interface, the best tournament structure and blinds and some of the fastest poker out there. Come up with new things like their TV promotions as well as focus on the Aruba trip coming up in September. What I would not do would be continue throwing money away with large overlays. Use this money on other promotions, tournaments, trips and contests.

The hand history situation came about due to the fact people were selling information gathered from being an observer status and sold on the Internet for a profit. UB changed their software to keep this from happening but it seems the outcry from their players have caused them to reverse their decision. I understand both sides of this issue and once again applaud UB for first making a decision that protected themselves and its players, then changing the decision based on what the majority of their player base wanted.

Finally, I would like to talk about their Customer Service. I have had my own problems with their CS Department and believe this is one part of their company they need to improve. Companies live and die by the service they offer their customers and the companies who have the best CS usually profit the most. Making a customer feel as if their problem is paramount to the survival of the company retains that customer. I would give the CS Department at UB 7 of 10 marks personally for I feel there is room for improvement but I have also seen much worse.

In conclusion I can see both sides of these issues. No site/company/business will be able to please everyone. That is why there are so many online poker sites out there with so many different styles, GUI interfaces, promotions and games. Personally, I find playing other places after playing at UB impossible. The games are too slow, the software often disconnects me in the middle of hands, the GUI is just poor in comparison or the tournament structure is not what I prefer. These are of course my opinions and feel free to debate this in the forums. That is what they are for.

BT
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